Photographer website: what clients check before they write to you

People who visit a photographer's site are choosing a person and a style, and they decide from the first few pictures. Then they want four answers: what it costs, whether their date is free, what they get, and what happens next.

In October 2026 we opened 26 independent photographer websites in 11 towns across 11 states, on a phone. Almost all showed a price. Few said how far ahead they book, none said how they use clients' own photos, and the median homepage was 7.6 MB. This guide goes through what matters in order, with the steps to set each part up.

This isn't legal advice. Copyright, publicity and advertising rules depend on your state. We read federal copyright and endorsement rules and New York's publicity law; check yours with a lawyer if you're unsure.

Say what you photograph, and where

Thirteen of the 26 sites named five or more kinds of work on one page. Clients searching "newborn photographer near me" want to see theirs at once.

1. Click Business info in the left menu. Under Tagline, write what you do and where, like "Wedding and elopement photographer in Asheville".
2. Fill in Phone and Service area: the towns you cover.
3. Do several kinds of work? Lead with one, and give each other kind its own page from the Service page template. See Add a page.

See Business info and hours.

Put a way to reach you on the first screen

None of the 26 sites had a tappable phone number on the first phone screen, and only 5 had a Book or Hire button. Most showed a photo and a menu icon.

1. Click Menu in the left menu. Under Header button, turn on Call bar on phones, type Button text like "Check your date", and under Goes to choose your inquiry page.
2. For real estate or same-week headshots, keep the phone number up front too.

Show your own work

The photos are what clients buy. Show real sessions, one set per wedding or session, not stock photos.

1. Click Lists, then Edit projects, then Add project. Fill in Project name, Kind of work, Town or neighborhood, After photo, More photos (up to 12) and a Short description.
2. Add a Projects section to your home page, or make a page from the Project gallery template. See Projects.
3. Or use a Gallery section and leave Open photos larger when clicked on.
4. Write Describe this photo under each one: "Couple at sunset on the Blue Ridge Parkway." Nine of the 26 sites left half their images without a description. See Describe your photos.

Pick your best 6 to 12. Photos are resized for the web automatically, so your site starts lighter than most of the 26, whose median page moved 7.6 MB. Don't use Free photos or Make with AI pictures as work samples; keep them to backgrounds, and see Be straight about AI.

Say what it costs

Twenty-four of the 26 sites showed a price. A couple choosing between photographers compares numbers; "inquire" sends them to the one who shows one.

1. Make a page called "Investment" from the Pricing or menu template.
2. Add a Packages section. For each, fill in Name, Price ("$3,750"), Price note ("starting at") and What's included: hours, edited photos, a second shooter, delivery time. Use Fine print for the retainer and print rights.
3. Do the same for each kind of session, with a Price list.

"Starting at" works. Don't list a price you wouldn't honor.

Say how booking works and what holds the date

Eleven of the 26 sites mentioned a contract and 12 a retainer, but few said when it's due or whether it's refundable.

1. Add a Steps section to your Investment or Contact page: "Send an inquiry", "We talk", "You sign a contract and pay the retainer", "Your date is held."
2. Say the retainer in dollars or a percent, when it's due, and whether it can be moved or refunded. Link your contract.
3. Your contract and invoices stay in your own tool (HoneyBook, 17hats, Dubsado and others). Link its inquiry page, or paste its code in an Embed code section. See Add embed code.
4. To take a retainer by card without a tool, Request a payment (add-on) sends a link that pays into your Stripe account. See Request a payment.

Let people check a date

Only 5 of the 26 sites said how far ahead they book. A couple's first question is whether the date is free.

1. Say it near the top of your Contact page: "Now booking 2027 weddings. Popular Saturdays go first." Use the Announcement bar for a booking window.
2. In your contact page's Form section, open Choose a ready-made form… and pick Catering or event inquiry. Change its More questions to ask the Event date (Answer type: Date), the kind of session and the town; remove the guests and budget questions. See Start from a ready-made form.
3. Reply within a day and say yes or no on the date. Say your usual reply time in Thank-you message.

Say what clients get, and who owns the photos

You own the copyright in your photos unless you sign a paper that says otherwise (U.S. copyright law, 17 U.S.C. § 201). Eleven of the 26 sites said what clients may do; most said nothing.

• Say it plainly: "You get edited, high-resolution files with a print release: print anywhere, share online. Photos stay my copyright. Selling them needs my permission." Don't write "you own the photos" unless a signed transfer says so.
• Say when they arrive: 15 of the 26 gave a time, like "within 4 weeks".
• Say if you don't send unedited files, and why. Put the answers in your FAQ list.
• Keep your credit on shared pictures. Removing someone's copyright information can be a federal violation, so don't crop out another photographer's credit.

Get permission before you show clients, and children

None of the 26 sites said how it uses clients' photos. In New York, using a person's likeness to advertise requires their written consent, or a parent's for a minor, and other states have rules of their own.

1. Put a line in your contract: "I may show session photos in my portfolio and on social media. Tell me before the shoot if you'd rather I didn't." Keep the signed contract in your files, not on your site.
2. For a child, or when you want a separate yes, make a page from the Photo release template and send it. See Start from a template. Signed forms is an add-on; its templates are starting points, so have a lawyer check the wording.
3. Don't collect health information in forms. See Don't collect health information.

Keep full client galleries private

Put proofs, full galleries and downloads in your gallery tool (Pixieset, Pic-Time, ShootProof, Zenfolio), behind its own link or password. On your site, add a Client gallery button in Menu with Goes to set to Another website…. A full gallery on a public page isn't private.

Be straight about AI and edited pictures

"Do you use AI?" is becoming a question clients ask, and "headshots for LinkedIn AI" is a search of its own. One of the 26 sites said "I do not use AI to edit your gallery, only hand edits".

• Say what you do and don't use, in your FAQ list. Every photo in your portfolio should be of a real session.
• Don't present pictures made with AI as photographs of your work. They're not your photography, and the law's treatment of AI pictures is unsettled.
• Real estate: label virtual staging and edits that change how a property looks. California requires agents to disclose them on listing photos from 2026, and agents will ask you to. Flying a drone for work needs an FAA Remote Pilot certificate.

Show reviews, and don't pay for them

Eighteen of the 26 sites mentioned reviews.

1. Click Lists, then Edit reviews, and paste your best Google or The Knot reviews word for word, with first name and the kind of session in Detail. See Reviews.
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page, and your rating and count in Highlights.
3. Don't offer a discount or a free print for five stars. The FTC's rule on reviews bars paying for positive ones. See Ask customers for reviews.

If you praise a planner, venue or vendor and they gave you something, or you share a styled shoot, say so. The FTC requires disclosing a connection that might affect how people weigh your words.

Keep your claims honest

Three of the 26 sites said "award-winning" or "voted best" without naming an award. Name it and the year, or say what's true instead: "Photographing Asheville weddings since 2014", with the real number.

Say where you work, and what travel costs

Eleven of the 26 sites gave a travel fee. Add your Service area in Business info, and in Fine print list towns with no fee and the cost beyond, like "0 to 75 miles free, 75 to 150 miles $250." For a page per town, see Add a page.

Mini sessions and gift certificates

Six of the 26 sites ran mini sessions. Turn one into an event with a few spots: in Lists, Events, open the event, turn on Take sign-ups on this site, set Spots, and write a Price. See Bookings. For session gift certificates, see Sell gift cards on your site.

What we can't do for a photographer

• Your contract, invoice and calendar. Bookings & RSVPs keeps its own calendar, which isn't linked to HoneyBook or 17hats, so a date could be booked twice. Use it for mini-session sign-ups and consult calls, and link your tool for weddings. See Connect a booking calendar.
• Client galleries and print stores. Link to your gallery tool.
• Sales tax on photos. Some states tax photography or digital files. Payment requests and booking deposits don't add tax; ask your accountant, or put it in your price. The online store can add a rate to prints.

Tips

• Take out placeholder text. Three of the 26 live sites still had "Lorem ipsum", one said "website coming soon", and four footers showed a 2022 copyright year or older.
• Keep your domain renewed. See Connect your domain.
• Give each page a search title with your town and kind of work. See Set a page's search title and description.